Parents mourning death of toddler call on province for $10-a-day childcare

The parents of a toddler who died while at an East Vancouver daycare are urging British Columbians to push for $10-a-day childcare leading up to the B.C. election in May.

Sixteen-month-old Mac Sain died in January in the area of Commercial Drive and Kitchener Street.

The death did not appear to be suspicious, Vancouver police had said in a press release.

On Thursday, following the release of the federal budget, the boy’s father, Chris, took to Facebook, asking B.C. residents to contact their local MLA and push for $10-a-day childcare.

“While we cannot yet comment on the what happened with our son Mac due to the ongoing police investigation, our experience of licensed and unlicensed daycare facilities has been horrendous and most obviously, lethal,” Chris wrote.

The proposal, currently backed by the NDP, would mean parents spend $10 per day for full-time care, $7 for part-time and no fee for families with an annual income under $40,000.

The plan also targets daycares that don’t follow provincial regulations.

On average, parents spend anywhere from $400 to upwards of $1,000 for childcare.